


Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

by 30xf



Series: 201 Days Of X Files [53]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:09:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5779933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30xf/pseuds/30xf





	Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

The shiny, black eyes had been trained on him since Scully had left the room. It knew, Mulder could tell, that he didn't like it. He tried to ignore it and drink his coffee in peace, but it just kept staring; inching closer when he didn't pay it any attention.

"Your dog wants something," Mulder sighed, clearly annoyed, when Scully returned from the bathroom.

Scully scooped Queequeg up easily, scratching under his chin as she walked to the cupboard above the stove. "He's just hungry," she commented absently as she pulled down a container of dog treats and set him down. Holding one treat up, the dog promptly sat, got up on his hind legs and held a paw out to Scully. She took the paw gently and held out the treat for the dog to gingerly take from between her fingers.

Mulder was impressed, but had no intention of showing it. "That's great, now can you teach it not to stare at me?"

Scully laughed, sitting across from Mulder at the table and taking a sip of her coffee. "Why are you so afraid of him?" she asked, watching with affection as Queequeg curled up at her feet.

"I'm not afraid of it," he scoffed. "But you do realize that dog ate it's former owner, right?"

"I saw the body, thank you," Scully nodded. "I know what the dog did." She bent to pick him up, holding him so his front paws rested on the table. "Look at this little face," she began, at which point Queequeg cocked it's head to the side, staring intently at Mulder. "Does this look like the face of malicious intent?"

"More like delicious intent," he quipped, proud of himself.

Queequeg barked and Scully chided, "That's not helpful," as she set him back down on the floor. He then walked over to Mulder, barked once more at him, and returned to his post by Scully's feet. "You've been told," she observed with a grin.

"Whatever that is the face of, it ate someone and you let it sleep in your bed."

Scully sighed, "First of all, he only...gnawed on her a little. And second of all, I observed the autopsy and that woman died of natural causes. Thirdly, I took him to the vet right away and they said he was malnourished. She wasn't feeding him, Mulder. Queequeg's on a healthy, nutritious diet now. And he eats before bed."

"Whatever you say, Scully." He again passed on the opportunity to ask why she named the dog Queequeg. He had to look it up the other day when she'd told him what name she'd picked. It was familiar to him, but he couldn't place it until he found it in Moby Dick. He made a mental note to ask her later. He turned his attention back to the laptop screen in   
front of him, only to be distracted by his thoughts a moment later. "Hey, did you ever ask Mr. Bruckman how you were going to die?"

She looked up from her newspaper with her eyebrows raised. "No," she lied, after a moment. She briefly considered telling him Mr. Bruckman's statement that she 'doesn't die', curious as to what his take on it would be. But she had already made the decision to dismiss it completely. "Why?"

Mulder shrugged, "Just curious." It would be the first and last time they spoke of Mr. Bruckman's strange ability with regards to themselves. Neither one of them brought up the auto-erotic asphyxiation comment he had made to Mulder. After a few minutes of silence, he closed his laptop. "I guess I should get going," he said, standing.

Out of nowhere, Queequeg was at his feet, barking at him. Scully stood and the dog settled immediately. "Beats me," she shrugged as she walked over to the counter.

"That thing hates me," Mulder pouted as he gulped the last of his coffee.

"Well, if you called me 'it' and 'that thing' and gave me the looks I've seen you give this dog, I might hate you too," Scully commented with a smirk.

"Very funny," Mulder mused, stepping close to Scully to put his coffee mug in the sink. 

Once in Scully's personal space, Queequeg started barking furiously, bouncing at Mulder, back away from him, and back at him again. It was a clear sign Queequeg had accepted Scully as his, and would take on all challengers. "Oh, shush," she admonished, half-heartedly.

"Is that supposed to be threatening?" Mulder asked, frowning as he raised his voice over the chorus of barks and growls. He looked down at Queequeg with a mix of amusement and hatred and leaned towards Scully. The noise intensified as he had suspected. He leaned away and the dog stepped in between them. "Come on, let's go," Mulder joked, putting his fists up at the dog, ready to fight.

Scully put it all to an end by picking Queequeg up and holding him under her arm. "Stop teasing him," she sighed at Mulder.

"Who's gonna make me?" he asked, lowering his face to the dog's.

"Keep it up and I'll let him eat you," Scully joked. At the same moment, Queequeg made a friendly lunge for Mulder's face, managing to lick his lips and nose, and causing him to jump back. "So we've established that you are afraid of him. Will you leave him alone now?" she managed to ask with a straight face.

"I'm not afraid of him," Mulder reassured only himself. "I just don't like dog spit. He's probably just been licking his ass or something," he reasoned as he put his coat on.

"Serves you right," Scully remarked with a smile as Mulder slipped out the door.


End file.
